Lobby Legislators For A Strong Great Lakes Compact Jan. 30

The annual Conservation Lobby Day - - when citizen-lobbyists swarm the State Capitol on behalf of progressive energy, environmental and conservation issues - - takes place this year on Wednesday, January 30th.

Here is a link to the best approach to take with legislators on the Great Lakes Compact, along with other information about the day and how to participate.

And another link from the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters, with additional registration information, is here.

In the last few weeks, a coalition of elected officials in Milwaukee County, along with a separate action by Milwaukee's Common Council, approved strong resolutions of support for the Great Lakes Compact.

The Compact is an agreement among the eight Great Lakes states to establish diversion rules, conservation standards and legal processes to preserve this precious regional fresh water system.

The Madison Capital Times editorially amplified these growing calls for action by urging the state legislature to approve and implement the Compact.

The Cap Times editorial was an unusually strong statement: details here.

Two years ago this December, the Great Lakes governors and Canadian premiers met in Milwaukee and agreed to a Compact to manage the Great Lakes. Two years later, Wisconsin doesn't even have a draft bill on the table,

And in December of 2006, Wisconsin's Attorney General warned state agencies like the DNR that it could not approve a diversion of Great Lakes water to a city like New Berlin or Waukesha without the approval of all the other Great Lakes states, according to a federal law.

The DNR is dismissive of the opinion, and major media in the state will not report it.

So here's more information about both the legislative and media failures to protect the Great Lakes. Some legacy for Wisconsin.

Health care reform, an absolute necessity for Wisconsin and the rest of the country, is moving forward despite the opposition of the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce.

And this effort to change the way the state does business, literally and figuratively, could also help guide additional changes in other state policies with the common good in mind.

The full argument is here.

Want to help stop the diversion of Great Lakes water? Want to make sure communities improve their water conservation?

An International agreement with Canada is undergoing review and the public comment period ends June 8th.

I had posted the other day about the urgency surrounding public comment on the Great Lakes Compact's conservation standard-setting.

     Here is a nice, direct link to join the debate.

     Or go here for an email address - - comments [at] cglg [dot] org

     Just do it before June 8th.

Arizona, Running Out Of Water, Moving Towards Growth Limits

First it was Florida, where fresh water is drying up.

Now Arizona.

Here are the key paragraphs from that AP story:

"PHOENIX — Arizona lawmakers voted Thursday to expand the state's growth management efforts, approving a bipartisan bill to empower counties and cities to place new restrictions on rural development without adequate water supplies.

The House's 50-1 vote completed legislative action on the bill, which now goes to Gov. Janet Napolitano, a supporter.

The Senate approved the bill on March 8 on a 26-2 vote.

Legislative approval of the measure came a quarter-century after the 1980 enactment of a historic groundwater management law imposing new pumping and irrigation restrictions in "active management areas." Those areas include Phoenix, Tucson and Prescott.

Those urban-oriented restrictions were aimed at curbing groundwater depletion that outpaced natural replacement.